Stanbic joins Buganda Land Board to formalise ownership

August 7, 2018 in Finance, Financial Services, Investment, Land & Agriculture, Real Estate & Property by Editor

August 7, 2018—Stanbic Bank Uganda (SBU) has launched a partnership with the Buganda Land Board to provide an affordable financing solution to enable bibanja holders acquire land titles.

During a news conference at the Stanbic Head offices, the bank’s Chief Executive, Patrick Mweheire said, “Our partnership with the Buganda Land Board is a significant step that will enable Ugandan’s realize their dreams through asset acquisition. Our preposition will allow tenants on Buganda Kingdom land to get proper leasehold titles which will allow them to further access additional funding from the bank when used as collateral.”

The solution dubbed Kyapa Loans is aimed at simplifying land title acquisition by bibanja holders whose land has already been surveyed by the Buganda Land Board but lacked the resources to pay for their land titles.

Mweheire said owning a home is a decision every Ugandan makes only once in their lifetime and that it should therefore be made affordable and accessible.

He said, “There are only 10,000 mortgages in Uganda compared to Kenya’s 300,000. In fact from a Stanbic Bank perspective, our non-performing loans ratio on mortgages is the lowest on our entire portfolio which basically means this customers are servicing their loans. In addition, when it comes to land ownership, Uganda has about 40.8 million land titles. It is products like Kyapa Loans that will boost land and home ownership in this country,” he said.

BLB managing director, Kyewalabye Male said, “We are grateful for this partnership with Stanbic Bank. The Buganda Land Board has the Lease Access Financing Initiative (LAFI) that coordinates the process and tenants can approach the LAFI offices to pay the survey and registration fees after which, the Buganda Land Board helps the tenants to survey and prepare the necessary documentation like the invoice and letter of recommendation which are presented to the bank for loan approval.”

Mweheire said, “With a leading customer loan portfolio of UGX 2.2 trillion (nearly $600 million), Stanbic has been a key enabler of growth through providing cheaper and affordable sources of credit at the lowest interest rates in the market.”

The product is targeting all bibanja holders who wish to add value to their land by acquiring land titles issued through the Government of Uganda.

The Stanbic Home Loans Manager, Jackson Emanzi said, “As a bank, we have now gone further down the ecosystem to accord those with residences on Kabaka’s land with the financing to allow them process land titles through our new partnership with Buganda Land Board.”

He said,  “Under this arrangement, the bibanja holders will approach the Buganda Land Board’s Lease Access Financing initiative (LAFI) offices to survey and authenticate their land. After which they will be issued with Letter of Recommendation to the bank and invoice of total cost which is presented to the bank for financing.”

The funds granted by SBU under this scheme primarily enable one to acquire their lease hold title, but can still get more money as equity release or fund house completion/renovation. The solution is available to both salaried and self-employed (business) customers and grants repayment periods of up to 24 months at the best interest rates in the market with the entire loan acquisition process not longer than 48 hours.